Study in the United States could be the most beautiful experience for an international student by the fact that the country has ranked Worldwide #1 in Education Rankings. This classifying has been giving based on a perception-based global survey, which used a compilation of scores from three equally weighted country attributes: having a well-developed public education system, would consider attending university there, and provides a top-quality education.
USA at a Glance
The United States of America is a North American nation with over 50 states and territories. The U.S. is the world’s most dominant economic and military power, well-known for its popular culture, which expressed by its music, movies, and television.
The American colonies declared independence from the British Empire in 1776 and were recognized as a new nation in 1783. In the mid-1800s, the country has nearly split in two during a civil war, but regained its footing in the 20th century, during which time it was on the winning side of world war I and II.
CAPITAL
Washington, D.C.
REGION
North America
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$62,869
GDP
$20.5 trillion
POPULATION
327,167,434
AREA
9,833,517 SQ.KM
Willing to know where are the best universities in the world, the United States of America is home to the top universities. In order for students to plan accurately on enrolling in universities outside of their own countries, they need to know what country or part of the world has the best universities and solid education. The Best Global Universities Rankings were produced to provide insight into how universities compare globally.
Life in the U.S.
The United States universities have received over one million students annually. Due to that cultural diversity, it is very important that international students know how is life in the United States. Altogether, life in the United States can be difficult but not impossible. International students have to be ready to start this new journey of adventures, which is very valuable.
The international students will experience a number of new ways of living that can affect them drastically, but no worries, EDscholarship gets your back. The international freshman students may expect to face some real challenges at the beginning of their stay in the U.S.
Culture Shock
Culture shock is the feeling of disorientation that people often encounter when they move to a new place or environment. Culture shock is one of the multiple challenges that international students have to face when they come to the United States. It is very hard to leave your country, family, tradition, and friends for a very long period of time to get connected to another culture. Though, it is very important for international students to know how life in the U.S. is different in so many ways from life in their own countries.
To better overcome the culture shock, international students need to know its different symptoms and how to deal with them. The following is a non-exhaustive list of culture shock's symptoms:
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Sadness, loneliness, melancholy
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Changes in mood, depression, feeling vulnerable
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Preoccupation with health
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Insomnia or excessive sleep
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Anger, irritability, resentment
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Aches, pains, allergies
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Longing for family
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Feelings of being lost or overlooked
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Lack of confidence
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Obsessions over cleanliness
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Loss of identity
Overcoming Culture shock
Now you have known the first big challenge that you will have to face, the culture shock and its symptoms, it is time to also know some of the steps that need to be taken to run into it.
According to experts in the Global Education field, culture shock is normal and natural for many international students. Whether the foreign language is not your problem, adjusting yourself to a new life can be a huge concern. The following is a list of tips that can help you overcome culture shock.
Be aware that adjusting to a new living way takes time
It is normal to be homesick. A period of adjustment could take weeks even months. In the mind time, we encourage you to be patient and understand that it will not last forever.
Focus on the positive
It is easy to remember or focus on all the good things that you miss back home such as foods, traditions. However, those souvenirs will not help you in resolving the issue. Instead, you need to focus on the new opportunity that arises in your life. Always remember why you wanted to study abroad.
Understand your academic expectations
You come into a new academic system that totally different from the system that you used to, then it is time to adjust yourself to that new academic system. One thing that will always help you is to frequently get in touch with your professors, advisor, and friends to understand your academic expectations, and also will help you approach your classes appropriately. Keeping yourself busy will reduce your anxiety.
Accepting your homesickness
It is normal and natural to encounter a period of homesickness when you study abroad, even American students who leave their homes to go on campus are feeling that way. Though, you have to embrace your new home and do not miss any opportunity to make new friends. Talk to people about your culture and ask them questions to understand and learn about theirs, too.
Do not compare yourself to others
It is not a good approach to compare yourself to others when learning how to deal with culture shock. Everyone is different and uses different approaches to deal with a common situation. Especially, people who used to come to the United States for vacation will take less time to overcome culture shock than people who come to the U.S. for the first time.
Getting to know a variety of students
Some people find it difficult to make new friends. However, it is an obligation for international students to other international students as much as they can in order to build new friendships. Nevertheless, since you are in the U.S. it will be great to have some American students for friends so they can help you adjust yourself to the American culture.
Finding ways to relieve stress
Some fun activities that can help you relieving stress could be working out, joining a student club on campus, exploring new hobbies, meeting new friends, socializing yourself, and all other activities that you feel comfortable doing.
Keeping an open mind
Always remember that your culture is different from others, so you have to look at things from other perspectives. Try not to be judgmental and always keep in mind that background and culture have a big influence on people's behavior.
American Culture
The culture of a nation is all that has left after losing everything. The culture can also define by the totality of a people's way of life, which means the types of de food they eat, the clothes they wear, and also the language that they speak. After gaining its independence from the British in 1776, America has built and developed a unique cultural heritage. People from all over the world like to live and imitate the American way of life.
Though, it is important for international students to know the culture, values, and traditions of the country that they want to come to and study in. We invite you to learn some quite interesting facts about the American culture.
Core Values
The American culture has some high standard values that define them as a nation. The following is a few among those values:
Personal Control Over the Environment
One of our top values is the fact that we believe people can and should control nature, their own environment, and destiny. This value makes the society goal-oriented and energetic.
Time Value
Just like our old adage, "Time is Money," however, it is not only money but it is very valuable. People with great achievement have used rationally their time with no procrastination.
Individualism
The American people highly believe in the concept of individualism, individuals and individual needs are two separate things. People need time to be alone and to be themselves.
Egalitarianism
We believe that we all born equal, and we also have equal opportunities. We are all important as individuals, no matter the race, color, or family we come from.
Informality
Unlike some other cultures, be formal in how you introduce yourself is not American people. This shows instead, arrogance and superiority. We value casual and egalitarian attitudes between people.
Student Life in the U.S.
Now you know some of our top values and one of the big challenges that you will have to face, it is time to think about how you will fit yourself into this new way of life. Make time to familiarize yourself with our list of holidays, the ones that we nationally celebrate. Below is a list of United States holidays.
U.S. Holidays
Life on Campus
International students should make arrangements to participate in many campus activities, which will help them on one hand dealing with homesickness by the fact that campus activities will keep them busy; on the other hand, those activities will help them socialize with other students.
Among many activities, campus clubs are one of the first groups that international students should be in. Through the campus clubs, they will be able to meet new people and explore new interests. They also can help in building skills and relationships.
Students should have many reasons to join campus clubs. When you join a club on campus, it will help you in exploring your interest by the fact that you will learn some new things outside of the classroom. A club on campus can also help you discover new hobbies by that, you will decrease your stress and make kinda connections with people who share your interests. In addition, a campus club will help you in meeting new people, having new friends, and most of the time the ones who share your interests. Furthermore, those clubs will help you in improving your English language skills because you will have to interact a lot with other people. They do not speak your native language and you do not speak theirs, so you will anyways have to speak in English, which will help you in improving your English language skills.
Student Discounts
Besides the campus clubs that you have to join in order to connect with new people and share your interests, you also have to be informed about all discounts available to students. Shopping on campus is kinda expensive, hopefully, businesses around the country have discounted their prices for students.
Make sure that you sign in for all student discounts, always download on your phone
the application of all businesses that offer discounts to students. Below is a list of businesses that always offer discounts to students.
Amazon, which is a giant worldwide company, offers some reasonable discounts on textbooks (Up to 90%), prime for students, free 2-day shipping, and more.
Office 360, which is the new version of Microsoft Office, includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Microsoft Teams. Students can get it for free just by entering their school email address on the Microsoft website.
Chegg is another important website helping students find textbooks at a reasonable price. With Chegg, students can save up to 90% on textbook purchases and rentals.
Adobe is another application that you will need a lot, it also offers a 60% discount on Adobe Creative Cloud.
Evernote is a good application that will help you in keeping your notes organized for your classes. you can also get a good deal, 50% off on Evernote premium, just by signing up with your student email
Amtrak, a transportation company, will help you travel from one place to another by offering up to 15% discount depending on your region.
Best Buy, another giant company, can also help students save money on electronics and more.
Samsung will also give you up to 30% off, remember to sign in with your school email address.
Spotify+Hulu whether you like listening to music and watching TV shows, you can get a Spotify music account for access to thousands of songs.
There are so many other ways that can help students enjoy campus life. We encourage you to drop off your shyness and be talkative in a good sense. The more you talk to people the more you will realize how easy is campus life, and the more you will make new friends and free up yourself from the homesickness.